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Genocide: Rwandans demand UK varsity cuts its rector loose
Attack. Rwandan Patriotic Front fighters in February 1993 moved from their bases in northern Rwanda and had launched a devastating attack on the government troops, catching Habyarimana’s army totally unawares. FILE PHOTOS
What you need to know:
- Ms Debora Kayembe, a Congolese-born British citizen and rector at the Scottish varsity, on April 14 took to Twitter to express her disappointment with the UK government’s decision to channel asylum seekers to Rwanda by claiming that President Kagame, a Tutsi, had planned and executed the ethnic cleansing of the Tutsi.
The Rwandan government has asked the University of Edinburgh to explain how it will address the “repugnant” and “radical statements” made by its rector who earlier this week claimed that President Paul Kagame orchestrated the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.
Ms Debora Kayembe, a Congolese-born British citizen and rector at the Scottish varsity, on April 14 took to Twitter to express her disappointment with the UK government’s decision to channel asylum seekers to Rwanda by claiming that President Kagame, a Tutsi, had planned and executed the ethnic cleansing of the Tutsi.
“Mr Prime Minister, we have reached the bottom of evil. Should I remind you that the genocide of in Rwanda (sic) was orchestrated by Kagame. God luck (sic) with your plans,” she tweeted, tagging UK premier Boris Johnson.
The tweet caused outrage among Rwandans and a section of the global community baffled by the brazen denial of a pogrom that the United Nations recognises as the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda.
In a letter to Professor Peter Mathieson, the principal of the University of Edinburgh, Johnson Busingye, the Rwandan high commissioner to the UK, said Ms Kayembe had “intentionally” lied about the planning and execution of the Genocide and expressed “flagrant and cynical Genocide denial.”
“The statement denies historical facts, creates confusion and permits genocide ideology and ethnic division to live on,” Busingye said in the April 21 letter. “The radical statement is the kind we are impugning but is emanating from an elected official who is a point of contact for the students’ body.”
The timing of Ms Kayembe’s statement could not have been darker as it comes during the commemoration of the 28th anniversary of the pogrom in which nearly a million people, mainly minority ethnic Tutsi, were slaughtered within 100 days.
On January 26, 2018, the UN declared April 7—the date the Genocide started—as the International Day of Reflection on the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda.
“The Genocide against the Tutsi is a fact of history, recognised by the UN, International law / Courts. We cannot allow such flagrant Genocide denial as Kayembe’s go unchallenged,” Mr Busingye said.
Backlash
The Rwandan government’s demand came after social media backlash had forced Ms Kayembe to pull down and tweet an apology to Rwandans and Kagame—an apology she later deleted and replaced with a defence of her initial claims.
Linda Melvern, a British investigative journalist and author of several books on the Genocide, described the tweet as “appalling” and “unthinkable” genocide denial and in the circumstances of the Holocaust.
“It causes the gravest offence to survivors and the reputation of the University of Edinburgh is in shreds,” she said in a tweet.
A hashtag #KayembeMustResign rented the crescendo of the backlash, forcing Ms Kayembe to apologise.
“To all Rwandans, President Kagame, and the Tutsi community around the world. I realised my comments were hurtful and disrespectful to you. Those were not the university’s but my own views. My sincere apologies. Amahoro ( peace),” she tweeted.
However, she deleted the apology and on April 22 tweeted that the “Rwanda genocide in 1994 took place, there is several documentation that states that Mr Kagame was behind it. That is simply the true (sic).”
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She has since edited her Twitter setting to restrict who sees her timeline.
With its Twitter handle flooded with messages, the Scotland-based University of Edinburgh initially said Ms Kayembe had expressed her personal opinion.
“Debora Kayembe is commenting in a personal capacity and not in her position as Rector. The role of Rector is largely a ceremonial one, open to election by, and often working closely with, staff and students,” the university said.
But Rwandans on social media turned on the university this time, heightening demands that Ms Kayembe be relieved from her position.
‘Awful response’
Aliane Mukundwa said: “Such an awful response. I wonder if it would be the same had she falsified facts of the Holocaust! It’s a shame to the university and more has to be done.”
Ishami Foundation, an NGO that works to build equality, tolerance and lasting peace in Rwanda and the UK, said distancing from Ms Kayembe’s genocide revisionist utterances “does not go far enough in acknowledging the detrimental impact that these denial theories have on the memory of the Genocide, on survivor trauma, and on current Kwibuka commemoration events.”
Quoting Section 13 of Scotland’s High Education Governance Act, 2016, Ishami Foundation told Prof Mathieson the removal of Ms Kayembe from the position of Rector can be proposed on the grounds of misconduct.
“Kayembe’s views are extremely damaging and isolate current and prospective Rwandan students and staff,” Mr Eugene Murangwa, chief executive of the Foundation, said.
“We urge you to take further action by issuing a public apology that explicitly condemns Kayembe’s statements, launching further investigations into her misconduct and releasing a statement to separate your institution from these denial arguments.”
In his response to Busingye, Prof Mathieson said the university recognised the historical facts about the Genocide and said statements deminishing the pogrom or denying it especially during Kwibuka makes things more painful to survivors.
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"We recognise the hurt caused by the Rector's statements, and recognise the extreme hurt and pernicious destabilisation that Genocide denial can cause to all Rwandans," Mathieson said.
The principal added that the university was looking into formal procedures available and promised to report the matter to the institution's governing body during their meeting on Monday.
